time for one quick e-mail. >> bill writes woke up early with a wretched back because yesterday i dropped my soap in the soap in the shower, sneezed at the same time. >> that's not a true story. if it is, i hope you are not writing from prison. "morning joe" starts right now. >> as we all know, we were expecting a vote this evening. obviously, we are not there. it's for a number of reasons. no, i can't tell you exactly why because there are different reasons. >> let me say our objectives remain the same. we are determined to find a way

to pay the nation's bill without more taxes and pass spending reforms and caps and a balanced budget. we'll be discussing that in the morning. we'll find a way forward. >> wow. okay. on the east coast, it's a rainy day in new york city. good morning, everyone. it is friday, july 29th. welcome to "morning joe." with us, we have mike barnicle and "morning joe" economic editor steve rattner with us this morning. >> were you watching the sox game yesterday? >> i was. >> crawford. two outs in the ninth. >> right. what happened? >> they lost. >> the ball died. >> it died. >> are you serious? >> it just died. >> willie, did you see it? >> no, i didn't.

i don't get the red sox games on my tv set. >> not as exciting as what's going on in washington. >> it's too much. >> what's too much? >> i was getting the must reads ready and there's a great piece on how we are seeing too much. it's like going to the butcher shop and seeing what's happening in the back room. >> get it done, right? >> i wish you hadn't said that. it's a little early in the morning. yeah, a little too much. four days to go before the august 2nd deadline. republicans called off the vote on the plan to raise the debt ceiling. it was scheduled for 6:00 but was repeatedly delayed. boehner didn't have the votes to get it passed. eric cantor is now advising houe in session this weekend. the secret proposal is a $900

billion increase in debt ceiling. the second is a $1.6 trillion increase, contingent on congress passing an additional $1.8 trillion in cuts. indiana congressman compared it to old sausage making saying nancy pelosi hopes a delayed vote will bring republicans back to the table for a bipartisan, balanced agreement. in a statement, she says republicans have taken us to the brink of economic chaos. the delay must end now so we can focus on the american people's top priority, creating jobs. >> steve rattner, this is getting somewhat serious because it's not as if the house

republicans voted down this bill or said they wouldn't vote for the bill for the same reason the democrats are against the bill. even if they come to an agreement that passes, harry reid said it was going to be killed in the senate, anyway. we are a long way to go. >> we are a long way to go. people thought if we could get this bill out of the house, the reid bill out of the senate, then you can have a conference and cut deals. who would know? it has to go back to the house and the same republicans get another bite at the apple. yes, we have a very long way to go. >> it's going to get broken. >> the problem with this is, it's like a form of economic terrorism. the tea party guys are strapped with dynamite standing in the middle of times square at rush hour saying do it my way or we're going to blow ourselves up and the whole country with us.

>> you subtract the 87 no votes from the republican caucus and pick them up in the democratic caucus. there were several times they had to roll us and get democratic votes. i'm sure there are no democratic votes for the boehner plan. they have to come up with a plan, if they can't pass it with the republicans in the house, they have to come up with a plan that 100 or so democrats will support. >> i actually view it as a positive sign, what happened yesterday. what it does, i think, it liberates a lot of republicans in the senate who may have been on the fence. they now know, these people are crazy. eight to 15 to perhaps 20 members of the tea party influenced wing of the republican party in the house who are crazy. they are crazy. it's as if john boehner. >> it's defined by boston standards.

>> they are taking the country to the verge of economic disaster. >> people are thinking they are pretty smart. >> i don't want to find out. the point is, i don't want to find out. john boehner, whose speakership is in peril, he didn't read the fine print. let's have the vote. oops, i guess we're not going to have a vote. now, it's reid and mcconnell who have to pick it up. >> as someone who has been behind closed doors with newt gingrich, what was happening between 6:00 and 10:00 when they decide there's no vote. is he screaming at those guys? >> there's usually not screaming. there will be screaming from staff members sometimes. usually, they will escort you into the speaker's office. it's a very intimidating place. it's a wonderful office.

you would want it. it's opulent. you have an extraordinary view of washington, d.c. i have been in probably about 20 of those meetings. the message is always the same, help me or you are going to help the democratic president. you don't want to damage the speakership and our cause, et cetera, et cetera. a lot of these things, i can get you clips from a decade ago, people were saying the same thing to myself and coburn. >> joe, i would say that at the end of the day, when you were there, that group of people were there. there was much more willingness to compromise at the 11th hour than now. there was much, much more party

discipline. >> there was more of a need to compromise. a lot of times, i didn't compromise. they got to a point where they stopped whipping me. that said, i was never in a position where if a bill didn't pass by date x there was a good chance the stock market was going to collapse. >> thank you. >> when we decided not to reopen the federal government, you know, we went on larry king. there were guys with snowmobile machines going around national park screaming at us. that was the extend of it. this is extraordinarily significant. i will say that the people i mentioned, steve and lindsey graham and matt, these people would understand, mark sanford would understand what would happen in the case of default. i think, in that respect, we

would have never allowed this to come to this point. we would have fought like hell. the difference is we would push to take the $4 trillion deal this group didn't take. you get $4 trillion, closing tax loopholes. >> they were pushing like hell. they got a deal none of us thought they would get. no tax increases. significant spending reductions. they got what they say they want. take it and move on and save the country. >> the question is whether at the end of the day, john boehner fit wasn't tight enough. if you have a speaker you respect, that speaker usually gets one or two free shots. newt gingrich said to us, a lot of us didn't care for him too much but at the end of the government shutdown, i have never asked you for a vote. i have never said do this for me

personally, but we need to reopen the government. it's going to finish the republican revolution if we don't. i need your vote. that got him the votes he needed to get over the top. it's also the last time we trusted him. but, but boehner doesn't have that reservoir of trust with the freshmen. he doesn't. >> it could mean big losses on wall street and beyond. asian and european stocks are tight. the ceos of some of the biggest banks are expressing their concern. ceos of banks including goldman sachs, bank of america say this, a default on our nation's obligations or downgrade of america's credit rating would be a tremendous blow to business and investors in an already

difficult economic circumstances. steve rattner. >> look, the fact is, this government, at the moment, ironically, at a time when people are saying let's not forget about jobs. this government is doing their best to destroy jobs as we are sitting here. business needs confidence. it needs some idea of what is going to happen. i don't know if you follow what's going out of the faa. there are 4,000 faa contractors out of work because the democrats and republicans can't agree on subsidies. they are just sitting there doing nothing instead of building infrastructure. the republicans and democrats can't agree on one tiny issue. >> there's no level of certainty. all different levels of this country. >> wouldn't that be the goal

here, beyond what one side or the other wants, to establish certainty? it's why you have to compromise at this point? >> i'm prepared to take the bullet of defending the president up to a point, any way. >> up to a point. >> you defend the president, i'll defend the republican freshmen. ready, go. >> my point is simply, if we did something along the lines of what the president proposed, we would have certainty for a year and a half. would we solve the problems? no. we would have $4 trillion of deficit reduction. a balance between spending and taxes. we live to fight another day. we are talking a hodgepodge of stuff with no certainly. >> economic uncertainty. go ahead. >> i got nothing. i would say, and actually steve agreed with me a couple weeks ago, the only thing worse than a short term fix is no fix at all

where, you know, we were talking $4 trillion grand bargain and how good it would be for this country. passing a clean debt ceiling, which is what i fear we are heading for if the chaos continues, it's not an economic nightmare immediately but we get a downgrade if we pass it without cuts. we have gotten to the point where conservatives have leverage to actually enact spending cuts. so, i think their feeling is, this is our opportunity. after this train leaves it station, well we are back to the status quo and nobody is going to cut. all they want to do is spin, spin, spin to get reelected. we have to do it now or it's never going to get done. i think the biggest problem with that, mike, is that their moment has passed.

what they don't understand is the more chaotic things get in these crises, the more the president's power expands. in times of crises, the president's power expands. we are about to fall off a cliff. i get the constitutional powers to do this by the 14th amendment. most americans say get it done. go. republicans will be cut off completely at the knee. they are overplaying their hand at this point. >> i think they have already overplayed it. no matter what happens over the chaos, one thing i would think would have to be for certain, we cannot do this again six months from now. we cannot have a short term lifting of the debt ceiling and get into this in the middle of an election year. we have seen the chaos of the past five or six weeks, you

don't want to do it before an election. chris christie released from the hospital last night following emergency treatment for asthma. he experienced shortness of breath on his way to a bill signing. he went to the hospital. everybody in the media started freaking out. an inhaler failed to stop his symptoms. he joked about it later. >> i think you got the tip i was okay. you know, either i was fine or dead, one or the other. you know, you would have heard about the latter. >> the governor answered questions about how his health would affect a presidential run. >> if i decided i wanted to run for president, i think you know me, charlie, i would do it. if people don't think i'm up for it, they don't have to vote for me. we are not at that stage of life at the moment. don't worry about it.

>> the new york reporters were pounding him. i talked to him last night. he is fine. he is 42 minutes away from meeting with his trainer this morning. he's fine. >> the thing is, he's 48. i'm 48. you know, when things don't feel right, the prudent thing to do is get them checked out. >> asthma is a serious thing. >> with the schedule, you know, whatever. >> yeah. >> i'm glad he's meeting with his trainer this morning. that's good. coming up, we bring in joe manchin and jeff sessions. also, washington post's eugene robinson and peggy noonan. up to this point, i did not think she has a mean bone in her body until i read this piece. wow. we'll talk to her about that.

>> what are you supposed to do, throw flowers at the president? >> you just wait. you just wait. >> anyway -- >> up next, the politico playbook. >> peggy explains why america lost that loving feeling. >> she does. first, here is the weekend forecast with bill karins. bill. good morning, everyone. new york city we got drenched in the last hour or so. the rain is moving out. unless you are in long island, you are not getting wet this morning. it's going to be a hot, humid day from new york to filly and d.c. you could be near 100. if you get the clouds and rain, you are lucky. as far as the rest of the country goes, we are watching tropical storm don making land fall later on tonight. this is a minimal impact storm. it's going to bring in a little bit of rain.

dallas is hot. watch cleveland with thunderstorms. it's hot around the country. not humid. not a lot of headlines out there. sunday and monday are dry. you are watching "morning joe." we never lose our loving feeling, we are brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the cc. and every volkswagen includes scheduled carefree maintenance. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the volkswagen cc sport for just $289 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today.

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the idea seems to be that if the house gop refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or government shutdown will ensue and the public will turn en masse against barack obama and the tea party hobbits can return to middle earth. >> i get comparing the debt crisis to the lord of the rings.

they both have elaborate plots, more xarkts than you can keep track of and both of them repels girls. >> 22 past the hour. time to look at the morning papers. we start with "the new york times." today, president obama expect to announce strict new mileage guidelines. new vehicles will be required to operate at 54 miles per hour by the year 2025. the current standard is 27 miles per gallon. boston globe is the largest yet by bernie madoff. they agreed to pay $1 billion to those defrauded by madoff. they ignored obvious warning signs. >> today, bob bradley is out as the head coach of the u.s. men's soccer team. they announce the former german

player and manager is considered to be a top candidate. to replace him, bradley, a great coach. he is about as good as it gets on the international stage. that would be a huge coup for the united states. >> why did they bounce him? >> they did. they have had a rough couple of months. i think to get to the next level, they think it's time. >> time for a change? >> time for a change. >> great coach, great man. my brother jeff works for espn. >> his son plays on the team. they are great people. >> we had him on the show, great guy. we wish him the best. let's bring in mike allen the chief white house correspondent at politico. >> happy friday. >> long night for you last night, keeping track of this, i guess. >> the house leaders worked into the morning on this.

they finally have some backing from the presidential field. for the first time, one of the presidential candidates says he's for the boehner plan. that candidate is -- jon huntsman. >> before you get into it, listen to what he said on fox. >> we have to get on with this cancer that is -- has taken over this country. we need to cut it out, radiate it and excise it. the cancer has taken over the country. this begins the process. >> pro-boehner, is that what i heard? >> he is. we are told they are rolling the dice today. they still don't know where the votes are going to come from. five to 12 votes still missing even after all the wheeling and dealing yesterday. we are told the main thing that the conservatives want is a

guarantee that a balanced budget would have to pass the senate. they asked for stuff like that because the leaders don't have earmarks to give away, anymore. now that guys ask for assignments and campaign help, it's a mess over there. >> mike, chuck todd explained that budget amendment as a poison pill. that's not going to pass, is it? >> no. no, a balanced budget amendment can't pass by itself, let alone everything else that is loaded on to. there was some word that cutting pell grants, need based education grants were the house leaders deny that. five to 12 is a lot when you are after you have done everything that you can. >> i want to ask you about another republican presidential candidate.

michele bachmann speaking at the national debt club and her take on the possibility of a default. what did she have to say? >> she was the opposite. she said the administration had been crying wolf about the debt ceiling. she was on "meet the press" all the time. she had a lotter from secretary geithner when he thought the default day would be in may. she says that's proof the administration is exaggerating the crisis. she's committed to not voting for it. she also defended her husband, he's been the subject of critical coverage. he was on the stage making a point there. she reminded people in september, it's their 33rd wedding anniversary. >> you're right. she committed to not raising the debt ceiling. i have no doubt we will not move the credit of the united states even if we don't raise the debt

ceiling. it's something we don't know. mike allen. >> taking over movies now? >> stop. >> have a great weekend. a preview of "meet the press" with david gregory and tiger woods announces he's coming back. he fired the caddy who stood at his side during the whole controversy. plus, a great moment before yesterday's red sox game. we'll be right back. ÷@x

welcome back to "morning joe." 31 past the hour. a quick look at the news. police arrested an awol soldier in texas suspected of planning an attack on ft. hood. it's army private first class abdo. the feds say he's been stationed at kentucky's ft. campbell.

he possessed child pornography. the police picked up the 21-year-old in his hotel room where they found a lot of weapons and other things. he visited the store that man did. he was looking to get even at fellow soldiers and was targeting ft. hood because of the 2009 shooting. he's expected to face federal charges. it's good they were able to -- >> they got him. >> yeah. good work. >> great. >> question after an event. it's great work. time for sports, willie. >> we'll take you to sports. tiger woods says he's red dou return to golf. he made the announcement over twitter writing, feeling fit, ready to tee up.

he's won seven times at fire stone in akron, ohio. last year was his worst p performan performance. tiger's buddy will replace the fired caddy. he was let go, despite the fact he stood by tiger and defended him during the troubles of the last year or so. former bangles wide receiver, chad ochocinco will be in new england. >> really? >> yeah, they have been considered problem players in the past. if anyone can make it work, it's him. >> i thought what he did was

moss. extraordinary. >> yeah. >> moss' face. tough coaches can make the difference and turn the players around. >> they respect him and the patriots. >> yeah. i think this is positive. >> reggie bush is close to a deal. >> are you surprised by that? >> he's under achieved since he came out of college. after his college career, a new jersey nfl career. he hasn't found his way. he gets hurt a lot. >> the kardashians, are they distracting him? >> he's not with her anymore. >> willie! he watched the show, the kardashian's? >> oh, god no. >> which one? >> chris humphreys.

>> who is the other one? >> i don't know. >> i banned it. my daughters were watching it. horrible. >> lamar odom. >> can we get back on track? >> they are fascinating. anyway. the arizona cardinals pick up kevin kolb from the eagles. carlos beltran in the lineup for the giants. he's with the giants now. >> first at bat, a tough play. tough play for beltran. giants fight them off. big panda. sandoval, then rollens. a shallow fly ball to right. look at them join the rains.

giants up, 2-0. michael martinez overthrows howard. look at the score. home is going to be not in time. the giants beat the phillys, 4-1. they have done it. the longest streak in the majors. >> wow. >> finally, a great moment to show you at fenway park. josh beckett, he's walking from the bull pen, barnacle to the mound. look at the reaction from the young man. completely overwhelmed. >> that is great. >> great moment for the kid. >> look at the royals beating the red sox. yankees didn't play. sox up 2 1/2.

>> they have trouble beating teams like the royals. in inner league play, they played some of the weakest teams and lost. they can beat the yankees, they can own the yankees and great teams of the american league but stumble on the royals. wow. >> what's next, willie? >> coming up next, the founder of politico wire, teagan goddard. we are pleased to recognize a champion for education. "morning joe" and starbucks are proud to celebrate travis parker as an innovator in and out of the classroom. he's the leader in his community known for his workmen toring

young men. in 2005, he began an academy. known as uncle parker, he travels ten to 12 hours a week coaching and mentoring young men. he's the every day hero award winner. we applaud travis parker and all campons for education.

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bipartisan way to send it to the senate where it can receive action. >> welcome back. 42 past the hour. time for the must read opinion pages. i'm hear now with the founder of political wire, teagan goddard. >> a heartford man. >> we love hartford. many pundits view taking a position in the middle of the political spectrum as a virtue in its. i don't. i want leaders to do the right thing, not the sen vis thing making nebulous calls for sen trichl. it's a cop out. a cop out that encourages bad behavior. the problem is republican extremism. if you are not willing to say that, you are helping make that problem worse.

>> what a shock. i am shocked. >> seriously. >> krugman would write that editorial. >> instead of going there -- >> there's truth to that. >> you write the same column for a decade. >> joe, this is not about paul. >> if you write the same column for a decade and blame everything including earthquakes around the world and public extremism, at some point, somebody could look at on op-ed and go, oh, there's a seed of truth to that. >> make it anonymous. now, just the words. don't you agree? >> it's paul krugman. he's a very smart man -- >> of course. >> faculty lounge. >> you boys are -- >> he's written the same column for a decade.

>> he's extremely smart and influential. he knows more about economics than i ever will. >> if you are a blogger, living in your mom's basement and cheetos all over the keyboard. >> teagan goddard, isn't he right in the op-ed? >> he is. the events of last night show him to be right. it's an interesting dynamic. republicans in the house of representatives convinced themselves the president will sign this bill. if they put him in a hostage situation of sorts, president obama will sign the debt ceiling bill. it's an interesting thing but proving krugman's point, they are veered way, way right.

>> it won't pass the senate, will it? there's no way harry reid is going to pass the bill. >> president obama won't put himself in a hostage situation. it's a tough situation. somehow republicans have convinced themselves. they are holding the bill hostage now. all five republican congressmen from south carolina refuse to support it at this point. it's very, very interesting. >> i don't see how the president vetoes a bill at this point and takes the bullet for the chaos coming after that. the president is outmaneuvered on this, don't you think? >> when you have a situation, the one thing we have not seen is market turmoil. as soon as we get into that, things may change. the dynamics may change. back in the t.a.r.p. vote, republicans couldn't get the votes to pass that. market turmoil came out, they

got the votes. this is different. we'll see what happens when the markets open. >> the feeling is that the president will sign anything that gets to his desk. democrats know that, republicans know that on the hill. he's going to sign anything that gets to the desk. >> really? >> nothing gets past harry reid. democrats don't trust the president to stand firm. this comes down to, as we said yet, it comes down to harry reid and mitch mcconnell sitting in a room. if the house republicans don't want to support it, the collapse of the u.s. economy will be on the shoulders. >> it's going to come out of the senate. what if the president vetoes a piece of legislation then goes right to the 14th amendment? >> right. >> we are not going to do this. we are not going to do this six months from now. i'm doing it now.

>> i think the best legal scholars have said the 14th amendment does not apply to the situation. i agree with joe. i think if they can get a bill out of congress, the president is going to have to sign it. >> whatever he gets. that's, again, democrats are looking to harry reid. >> absolutely. >> and saying don't let anything get past your chamber that you don't want the president to sign. he's going sign whatever he gets. >> the nation turns their lonely eyes. >> on harry reid. one senator saying harry is a weird, weird citizen. >> the funniest thing. >> very powerful. harry is a weird, weird dude, but i love him. he can figure it out. in the end. i don't know how he does it, but he figures out how to get it done. >> you want me to read charles -- >> you picked it.

i think you need to read it. i think he makes your point as well. you should read the op-ed. in this case, he goes after the freshmen republican himself saying get real. >> the great divide. obama takes two massive problems, jobs and debt, both a result of failed scandal and the staggering burden. obama is desperate to share ownership of the failure. economic dislocation from a debt ceiling crisis nicely serves that purpose. the crazy tea partiers ruin the recovery. why would you go with that ploy. the new conservatism's one chance to change the course of the country. why risk forfeiting that outcome

by offering to share ownership. >> to put it in proper context with what he's been saying for a week is, guys respect reality. you only own one branch. you don't own the senate or the white house. you cannot get what you want right now. but, if you continue behaving the way you have been behaving, you are going to create a crisis and you will own the bad economy along with barack obama. >> that's right. many republicans are saying, guys it's time to walk away from the blackjack table and we won. it hasn't happened yet. the tea partiers and congressmen from south carolina, he's holding them firm now. we'll see how long they stay. >> there are a lot of people that ask, where is the center of republican power.

it is so dispersed these days. he's the most powerful force he has for two, three, four years. when he says the gig is up, you guys get real or you are going to damage republican chances of winning next year, i think at the end of the day, it pulls people over. >> they have been saying that, too. >> wall street journal says it as powerful as it gets. >> when you have david brooks from "the new york times" and others in agreement you should listen. >> up next, willie's week in review. [ p.a. announcer ] announcing america's favorite cereal is now honey nut cheerios! yup, america's favorite. so we're celebrating the honey sweetness, crunchy oats and... hey! don't forget me!!

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it is time. it's friday. >> it's friday and time for the weekend review. where else could we begin than with trebek. >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> he put on his underwear and ran down the hall. >> this is jeopardy. >> "jeopardy" hostal ext al ext

was -- >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> the love by fans of "jeopardy." >> it hurts to miss that one. >> when he confronted the intruder. >> what are you doing? she said visiting a friend. i said no you weren't. >> he was up working the next day. if we stop sleeping in the nude, the criminals have won. >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> at number two, is it cold in here? >> this case of a man rescued from a morgue refrigerator after he was presumed dead by a family man. >> a south african man woke up to find himself inside a body bag and chilling inside a morgue refrigerat

refrigerator. the next time he has an asthma attack and passes out they will probably give friends a jingle before calling the coroner to be on the safe side. >> story of the week -- >> the american people may have voted for a divided government, but not dysfunctional. >> two men, one a 49-year-old leader of the free world, the other a 61-year-old speaker of the house of representatives competing for america's debt-related affection. >> i have always believed the bigger the government, the smaller the people. >> this is no way to run a government. >> they tried to get votes. >> how's that kidney stone? they are easier to pass than this. >> to cover the moon with yogurt that will cost $5 trillion

today. >> an ideological goal. >> the tea party hobbits return to middle earth. >> not even the screening of a ben affleck movie could inspire this. >> i need your help. i can never tell you what it is. we are going to hurt people. >> at least they didn't watch this, for heaven's sake. in another week dominated by mud fighting politicians, it was comforting to know there remains one hero among us. >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> that's the guy america should be behind. >> i don't understand, though. why did he have to say that? he put on his underwear. applied the baby oil. >> stop it. >> he didn't have to do that.

>> we don't want to know the details. >> he wants to be comfortable when he sleeps.

the democratic response to the republicans use of the clip from the movie, "the town" led to my favorite moment. i give you chuck schumer's breakdown show. >> in the scene, they chose to inspire their house freshmen.

one of the crooks gives a pep talk to the other right before they both put on hockey masks and shoot a man in the leg. >> join us next week, when i, chuck schumer review "star wars." in this film, a large asthmatic man dressed in black pastic cuts the arm off the boy wearing pajamas with some type of a glow stick. and here is the part you won't believe. the man in the suit is the boy's father. >> that's pretty good. 7:00 on the east coast. welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle is still with us. joining the table, columnist for the wall street journal peggy

noonan. >> peggy, what do you think -- >> don't ask her. >> no, we'll get to that. are you not surprised the republican party, they believe the republican party is handing barack obama a victory by their actions. do you agree with charles? >> they could. i feel that the republicans, first of all, they are surprised. there's a general sense boehner would go through with the margin of a few votes. the republicans have stopped their own momentum when they had momentum. they had policy momentum. they had beat back the forces that just gave us a debt ceiling increase with nothing attached. they beefed back taxes. they were going to get something like the beginning of serious cuts.

it seemed to me they had so much going for them, so much momentum, then they stopped themselves last night. >> right. >> yeah, it was a -- i don't know if surprise is the right word. i found it dismaying. >> dismaying. charles was channelling bill buckley, who, of course, in 2005, basically whether we like it or not conservatives respect reality. he was being a conservative. we must respect what is in front of us. he's saying to the republicans you don't control the presidency. you don't control the senate. you control the house of representatives and you have to understand when to play your cards. that time is past. >> this was a hard thing to win holding only the house of representatives. they don't have the presidency

and the big mic that comes with the presidency. they don't have the u.s. senate, which is democratic. they don't have the general media support in the mainstream media. what they have was the house. from the house, boehner has good leadership. they were getting as much as could be got. acknowledge reality. give it respect. you can try to change it. acknowledge it. know the facts. i thought the republicans went forward with people that knew who the facts were. they may be overplaying their hand at this point and the tea party doesn't know it. >> they don't know it or they don't care. let's talk to the democratic senator from west virginia, a man who has to balance the realities of democrats and republicans. he did it as a governor. he's doing it now as a senator. joe manchin. senator, tell us where the u.s.

senate stands right now and how this situation stands as we are only a few days away from a default. >> i felt compelled yesterday to go to the floor and apologize to my fellow west virginians for what they have to witness. in our state of west virginia, we had challenges. we had to bring people together. set priorities based on values and start fixing things. we ran government more effici t efficiently. we didn't raise tax rates, but we brought in more money to fix our problems. i basically have felt from day one and i have said, if you are going to fix something do it. $4 trillion looks like the swing we need for downward test. the best thing i have seen and worked with is the debt

commission of bowles-simpson. it's the mob of 50. it's been bipartisan from the beginning. it still is. i think it's a tremendous template. what we have in front of us is short and shorter and we are not fixing the problem. >> senator, you were an executive to the state of west virginia and you never let things get like this, never let them get out of control. what should the president be doing right now to be more forceful. if you were in west virginia and the house in west virginia was fighting the senate in west virginia you wouldn't be sitting back, you would be engaged. >> i'm sure my style is different than most. i served in the house of delegates. i served in the state senate. i knew the people. i would go into their caucuses and into the rooms and on the floor. i would be in their face day and night. for the sake of the state of west virginia, there's a time to

play politics but there's a time to put our state first. this is a time to put our country first. this is the greatest country on earth. we will do what it takes to continue for the next generation. i recommend the president talk to the front row, the back row, everybody. get us all engaged. for the sake of the country, let's get it together. >> mike, that's the thing. the biggest problem is this president doesn't know the players. he does not have a comfortable relationship with members of the senate who he worked with for a couple months or certainly members of the house. >> yesterday, it was very much the same thing as now. get people in the room and talk about the country. get it done for the country. senator, i would like to ask you, if it comes to the senate, whatever form comes to the senate and it involves a six

month extension, only a six month extension, would you vote for that and go through this again in six months? >> i have said that's the real short version. i think that's ludicrous. if you think this has been a fiasco now and you want us to go through it six months from now, you ain't seen nothing yet. this is unbelievable. if we can put this together, john boehner is doing everything. i have met him, he seems like a good, decent person. harry reid is a great guy trying to reach out and put things together. everybody is trying. you have one plan out there. the only time i have seen both sides come into the room, they came in excited and left excited. the gang of six and all of us sat down and worked it out. my recommendation is let's take what harry has now and guarantee a vote three months from now to avert, you know, the credit

rating maybe downturn and show we are serious about fixing the problems, we can come together in a bipartisan manner, get it out of the election cycle. we guarantee a vote. i think that is the harbor that needs to be worked out. i pray that's where they are moving it to. >> senator manchin, it's willie geist. you said you were em bbarrassedy the united states of america, you apologized to your state. from what you have seen, do we have a system of government at this point in washington that is capable of tackling big questions? if we fight over a couple trillion dollars here, how can we look at big problems. you are willing to look at medicare and medicaid. do you feel like washington is capable right now of handling big problems? >> willie, i have been here nine

months now. i have met some of the greatest people that could be associated with. they are bright, intelligent, sincere and here for the right reason. i'm not sure the purpose of staying here except to fix things. let's not worry about the next election. the next election will take care of itself. the best politics is good government. let's worry about the next generation. it's what we are here about. the worst scenario in the world for a politician is that your constituents can send you home to be with your family. that's the worst scenario they could face. it's not a bad consolation. let's do the right thing. i think they can fix it. we have done it before. we'll do it. i would like to see the president more engaged, call a few of us, say what is going on. we are talking on the back row, mark kirk and i, we try to meet every week to sit down and

converse. we are doing what we can to reach out. i think they are going to get that done. harry, working with all of us, i believe that mitch will get his group together and we will work together on the senate and maybe move something. if they want a bigger deal, we'll give them one. we'll give them a deal that republicans on the senate side agree to and maybe the house can move this thing. >> peggy noonan. >> what is the general sense among your colleagues about august 2nd. is there a sense, wow, this is a really hard wall? or are people rethinking that and thinking we have to get something done by august or are they thinking september? what about the mystique of august 2nd. is it helping to shape the thinking of your colleagues in the senate? >> the thing i found out since i have been here, you almost have to set a deadline. you know, it's been said in

government many times crisis is a horrible thing to have and might be a horrible thing to waste. the deadline puts a wall there where you have to get over that wall. the wall is going to knock you down. so, that -- >> is it is crisis point or not? i know convenience has a deadline. is this or not? >> in a state -- when i got to west virginia, our credit ratings were dismal for many, many years. i set a goal to raise the credit ratings. six years in a row in west virginia we have surpluses. we committed to stay within our means. the last three years our credit rating has been increased. i know it can be done. i'm worried about the credit rating of this nation. i know what a long haul it is to get it back. it's not pretty for anybody. we are not going to have the luxury of making decisions and doing things we don't want to

do. >> all right. senator, thank you so much. >> thank you, senator. >> we love having you here. good luck. >> i thank all of you. appreciate what you are doing. >> great guy. i love to hear how he and mark kirk, a republican from illinois are getting together and talking. >> good. >> i tell you, that guy is a winner. >> yeah. >> he's a winner. >> he's the governor. a legislature. >> he knows what it takes. >> put your hands on power and get things done on a daily basis. >> your question was interesting, i thought. the august 2nd deadline, is it a crisis, not a crisis. >> yeah. >> i was talking to a wall street person yesterday saying the august 2nd deadline is real. the content is crisis but it's already happened. it's already happened within the business community and the country with 9.2% unemployment. the last five or six weeks, the way it's played out, it's added to the uncertainty of what they

can do, how long it will be before they can hire because people in washington are just acting foolish. >> mika, you were concerned about peggy's column today. >> my column -- >> let's talk through it. >> would you like me to read it? this is an intervention. >> peggy -- >> we want to bring these two together. >> seriously. >> very upset. if you write anything that is at the least boit critical of president obama she gets very angry. >> let's discuss it. >> obama left conservatives scratching their heads they could have made a better more moving case for the liberal ideal as translated. he never offered a plan. he was sly. no one likes sly. no one respects it. he was losing a battle in which he had superior forces, the presidency and u.s. senate.

those that have given him too much mystique. he is not a devil, alien or socialist. he is a loser. this is america. >> oh. >> nobody loves a loser. >> peggy. >> did you write that? >> where were you? what was the scenario when you wrote this? >> let me tell you what i am thinking. we are in a great crisis, this debt ceiling thing. it's taking place within an ongoing long term economic crisis of which we are in the third year. it seems to me joe manchin said this morning, the president has not taken sufficient leadership, really gotten himself into this thing, having everybody constantly in there. in my view, he's played games with this crisis. first avoiding it then being

strategically avoid ant and doing things which didn't hold together. i think his leadership is very disappointing and whatever the republicans are doing and however it's going to work out, he does not look good. he is not enhanced himself. this is all over the polls. i think it's deeper than that. i think people feel different about him after this. >> mika. >> i have heard this. people are saying he's shrewd. he's given on entitlements. you know exactly what happens when that happens. on top of it, he's had republicans over -- >> they have, mika. you take a chance when you put it on paper. it's true. >> you think he looks weak when he is the one -- >> i'm sorry, we are in a crisis. he is not the main person. >> will be to work.

>> the republicans look like they are dominating the course of events on policies. the president of the united states was written up as the invisible man yesterday by "the new york times" saying where is he? he has disappeared. you know very well, and i understand and i have great respect for you for your acting abilities -- >> what's wrong with criticizing that. >> she's done a lot of acting in the past. >> no. no. >> no, no. >> this is not a large forceful personality that changes reality. it's not. >> i got to clear this up. mika heard two days ago on capitol hill democrats all saying the same thing. that is this president has been invisible. he's not a leader. they said this all behind closed doors. >> democrats saying this.

>> democratic leaders. in fact, the most powerful democrats on the hill. i will stop right there. the complaints were all the same. the president has vanished. he's left us here alone, again, like he did with health care. where is he? they didn't call him a loser, but they sure as hell didn't call him a leader. sorry, mika, i didn't mean to pull that veil down on your whole act. she's working hard to comfort obama. >> he keeps his voice cool and calm. that's a nice thing. it's not enough. it's not going to get you through a crisis, which is what this is. >> peggy, as a practical matter, what should he be doing? he's working behind the scenes, staying up all night. what should he do differently? >> he should not have spent the past two months saying i'll try

this and that. he should have decided two months ago i'm going to get them together in my office, if we have to do it every day, i'll make the concessions i have to make. i'll separate taxes from spending. it's a spending crisis. i will get a debt ceiling. if the republicans are not reasonable with me, i can shame them. he can't shame them now. >> why? >> i don't know whether you two hear the same thing when you talk to people in washington, democrats especially. the biggest dilemma/problem is he doesn't like conflict. conflict sometimes is the only way to get things done. you call people in, you shut the door. >> he doesn't like conflict and people on the hill will tell you he doesn't like them. he does not want to mix with them. this president -- >> he does not have the feel for them. >> he doesn't have the feel for them. this president likes to read a lot. i tell you what, if i were the

president, if i were the president's people, i would start handing him lbj biographies. >> tip o'neill. >> tip o'neill, lbj. see how it's done. this is a man that was so engaged that he would call subcommittee chairmen in the house and push them. subcommittee members in the house on these small committees and lbj would berate them. why is the bill held up. we have only been here a week. get it out. he knew all the details. he was not above it. lbj -- >> more important now is that in lbjs days, people knew how to do their job. the president is dealing with a lot of young congress people, senators who haven't come up through the system. they need a president more than ever to help them move forward and know how to do it.

i'm serious. >> you're right. >> the republican party, last hour, i think you were asked what you could do and say to defend them. you said you have nothing. nothing. >> at this point. >> okay. >> at this point. it's time for that to happen. i could find a lot of republicans. they have leaders, mcconnell and boehner. others are stepping up being grown ups. >> alex is screaming in my ear. >> i know but the fact is you have heard everything from democrats across the hill that peggy said and you are acting shocked and stunned. >> i am shocked by her column. >> okay. >> i'm shocked. >> you shock easily. >> no. trust me, i don't. senator jeff sessions coming up. moderator of "meet the press," david gregory and vern buchanan join the conversation.

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♪ play like a champion today. it's an american message. we are only going to play like a champion every day. every day the 112th congress is in session, we are going to play like a champion not because we want to win but we refuse to lose what is out there for us. refuse to lose a country we fought for all our lives. refuse to lose a country our parents and grandparents fought for us. >> 26 minutes past the hour. joining us from washington, the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory and on capitol hill, congressman in florida, representative vern buchanan. >> usually, we start with david. let's start with vern this morning. what's going on? we have a country, we have a world waiting for the house of representatives to pass a bill. when is it going to get passed?

>> we had a good conference yesterday. i thought we had the momentum through the day. i'm here. we are a few votes short. we were hoping to get it done last night. i'm confident to get it done today and i'm confident we are not going home until we get it done. hopefully by tuesday, it will be put in place. >> how many votes short are the republicans now despite the extraordinary arm twisting john boehner and the republican leadership exerted on these freshman? >> i have heard different numbers. somewhere between two and six. i'm confident the speaker will get there today and get kicked over to the senate. we'll see what the senate does with it. we need to get it done for the american people. they are very, very frustrated. we have to make it happen before tuesday. >> i can tell you, i just got a call from a guy overseas doing business and people are looking

across the negotiating table saying what are you americans doing? what the hell is going on? we won't reveal his name, but he's a business person that employs a lot of people. vern, do those hold outs understand there are conservatives like you and i that want to cut as much as humanly possible, but we have to face the reality we have democrats in washington as well as republicans? >> yeah, i think you mentioned negotiation. i have been in business 30 years. i'm not a career politician. it's been about win-win. the politicians might think they are winning but the american people are losing. the bigger issue is we need to deal with the spending. it's $4.5 billion a day. we are adding another 2 preponderate $6 trillion. a lot of people see a lot of

gimmicks. we have to deliver results for the american people. that's not been happening on jobs. it's not been happening on dealing with the deficit. if we don't, everybody up here needs to be fired. >> david gregory, explain the mechanics here. if the house bill doesn't go through the senate, what are we watching? >> if they get it through the house. >> right. i think the scenario is, ultimately, this comes together. speaker boehner as a legislature has been around a long time. if he can delay, he has more opportunity for the pizza seduction last night. trying to get freshman lawmakers to agree and to ultimately support the bill. if that happens, then it's very interesting. there's a view in the white house, they are relying on senate republicans who they think will be frustrated with the process to give a little bit and win support to senator reid's plan.

it will be a long-term extension and that becomes the basis of negotiation. this is interesting. the maneuvering here, if you look at it, what the republican house leadership is doing is trying to stick to the same point they had last sunday, gearing the president to oppose a bill based on what they will call his political calendar. don't accept a short term bill. and rather than prevail on the argument that a short term bill is bad for the economy. there's a lot of maneuvering but a lot of confidence that raises questions on the part of democrats. >> mike barnicle. >> congressman, i want to ask you, why would anyone want to have a short-term solution after what we have seen occur over the last six or seven weeks, this chaos, this madness that's upset so many people in this country. why would you ever consider a short-term solution and go back

at it again during an election year? >> i think because people don't trust the process. they don't trust -- you know, they are talking reid's proposals are going to get $2.6 trillion in cuts, but nobody believes it's a reality. we want to make sure the cuts get taken care of. that's really the process. maybe a trigger mechanism or something put in there. the bottom line is, we are willing to raise the debt ceiling. at the same time, we want to make sure the cuts get delivered. i have been here four years. they have all kind of gimmicks up here. you get through the moment or the day, get it passed and never get around to the other part of the deal. >> you decided to vote yes on this, correct? >> i'm going to vote yes because i think it moves us in the right direction. we need to get something out of the house. the senate will come up with something and obviously, something negotiated out of that. more importantly, we have to

make sure we don't go into default for the first time in the history of our country. businesses in my community, i have talked to a lot of them. everything has come to a halt. we need to take care of this in three or four days. people buying houses are standing on the sidelines. it's hurting the american people. we have to think about what is best for america. >> congressman, are you saying it might take three or four days to get to a vote on the boehner bill or this might take three or four days to resolve the debt ceiling crisis? >> i think we'll get a boehner vote today. everybody wants to get it done by tuesday. we are willing to stay here day and night, 24/7 to make sure it gets done. >> are you feeling optimistic about boehner passing today? >> yeah, i do. we have confidence this morning at 10:00. i think there's been momentum picked up overnight.

they were there early in the morning. i feel like we are close. i think we get there -- i think it's important we get there. >> willie. >> hey, david, it's willie. we heard in the coverage last night this was unprecedented. we hadn't seen a small group like this tea party is behaving in the past and not respond to their own speaker is that a fair assessment or what do you think of the dynamic? >> this is a speaker who is not responsible for the election of these freshmen. they are not in washington because of john boehner. it's why he can't bring them over the line as easily as he would like, if at all. it's not like newt gingrich back in joe's day who could turn to the freshmen and say you are in washington because of me. that's the reality john boehner is facing. he's an establishment politician and republican party that's experiencing a sorting out of the party and a rebellion that

began after health care, end of the midterm election and continues now over the role of government principally and of course over a debt and government spending. i will say this, look at a couple leadership issues here. during the lame duck session, president obama comes up forcing a compromise over taxes. everybody thinks there's a government shutdown. does the president look bad? ultimately, he brings the sides together and forces a deal at the end. the president looks like the great compromiser. he's going to bear responsibility if he can't bring it over the line. republicans knew a grand bargain helped him more than them. what about mitt romney? he is the front-runner in the 2012 race right now. he couldn't be any farther away from what is going on in the house. as a republican, for the brand

of republicans somebody like mitt romney doesn't want to be anywhere near it. >> no doubt about it. >> david gregory. >> everybody loses here. >> thanks. congressman vern buchanan, thank you as well. >> thanks guys. appreciate it. coming up, new evidence iran is funding al qaeda. that story next when we come back with more "morning joe." what's up, smart? oh, just booked a summer vaycay. ooo. sounds pricey? nah, with the hotels.com summer sale, you can find awesome deals for places nearby. interesting... wow, i'm blown away. you look great. hotels.com summer sale, save up to 30%. and get a free kindle. hotels.com. be smart. book smart.

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welcome back to "morning joe." the united states is keeping i lan. >> hold on. >> got it? >> i almost had it. >> it went that way. >> it's the size of a bald eagle. >> where is it? >> i don't know. >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> it's like a crow. you get it if it comes here. i don't like them. >> i guess nbc didn't -- >> we need a little fly tape from a barn. >> a mosquitoe net. >> the united states is now accusing iran of entering into a secret deal that funnels money.

the treasury department has slapped sanctions on six individuals operating as terrorists. they are the pipeline through which al qaeda moves money. disagreements within the u.s. intelligence community between the iranian government and al qaeda. >> what? >> coming up senator jeff sessions and "the washington post" eugene robinson and peggy noonan. keep it here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] members of the american postal workers union

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this is a divided government, a two-party system. nobody gets entirely what he or she wants. yes, if we had been doing this in a normal way as is historically done, there would have been a clean debt ceiling vote. it's traditionally unpleasant for members of congress, but routine and certainly not tied to any kind of deficit reduction package or any other measure for that matter. >> 44 past the hour. interesting idea. we have republican senator from alabama and the ranking member of the senate budget committee, senator jeff sessions. also in washington, editor of the washington post and msnbc analyst, eugene robinson. >> senator, let's begin with you, then we'll get to gene. let's start with important

things first. role time. >> role time. we have that out of the way, now we can go on to less important things. >> so, will our financial systems crash and burn over the next weeks senator, if we don't get the debt deal done? >> it certainly needs to be done. why take a chance with something as important as the national economy. i think most of us are willing to accept a good deal less than we would like to see as part of a beginning to alter the debt course in america. i's too much of a risk to suit me. >> are you as disappointed as john mccain with what's happening in the house among republican who is refuse to pass a debt deal? >> i believe they should try to. there would have to be more compromises and work. i have to admire members in congress. they were elected in record

numbers. they want to actually alter this debt course we are on. the reason we are having a problem with the debt course is the debt. it's the debt that is endangering america. the debt ceiling is like the thermometer that says 104 degrees. it tells you you have a problem. we have hit it too quickly and we have gone up too much, too fast and we have to bring it under control. >> senator, i certainly agree with you. we have been talking ability this for 15 years and we have been fighting for this for 15 years. but, when these house freshmen and some republicans in the senate had the opportunity to knock $4 trillion off the national debt in a grand bargain, they walked away from that deal. do you think that was a mistake? >> i haven't seen that in writing. i know the gang of six used that number. when we studied it out and the budget committee looked at the

numbers we saw $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over ten years when the debt is going up $10 trillion in ten years and tax increases. i don't think we have seen a plan on the table that would do that. i have been a big critic of the majority leader in the senate because we have not had a budget process. we have no real bill put forward. the president hasn't spelled out anything yet in writing. he talks numbers but when you read the details, they are not there. they have avoided accountability and any real votes. that's a mistake, i think. it's put us in a position where at the last minute, as i predicted, we'll have all kind of complex legislation and wheeling and dealing and the attempt to avoid a crisis. >> mika, that is the point republicans will say repeatedly. they have a good point.

democrats have gone hundreds of days without passing a budget through the united states senate. the president doesn't have a budget. the president doesn't have a plan. nothing is put down on paper. they are afraid, if they put their plan down on paper, there will be a tax just like paul ryan was. >> i believe there's a good precedent for that. it's a good point for the republicans. eugene, i'm going to read from your piece this morning. what is the big idea, you ask. conservatives are on a winning streak. they have an idea for a unifying force. it's a bad idea but better than nothing which is better than progressives have. the idea that defines the republican party is that taxes are always too high and government spending is always wasteful. there's an overarching philosophy between the government and individual.

they imagine a return to a jeffers jeffersonian arcadia. wow. >> this is what bill clinton said when lecturing democrats, better to be strong than wrong. >> wow. >> right now, peggy noonan talked about how this president has become invisible. "the new york times" had an article on it yesterday. you seem to be mourning that fact today. it's what the democrats on the hill are saying. what's happening? >> i'm not specifically -- i didn't mention the president in the column. it's not really an attack on him. it was a statement on progressives or progressivism, i guess liberalism, whatever you want to call it. i don't think liberals have come up with as compelling of a story of our times as they could and as they had better if they are not going to keep getting

smoked. conservatives have a bumper sticker explanation of what the problem is and what we need to do about it. i think failed to boil down a philosophy into -- >> so what should that bumper sticker be, gene? >> it ought to be jobs, period. jobs. and that's what people in the country care about right now. jobs you can expand that larger discussion about the future of this economy and this nation, and where are we headed, and you can make the argument that to get where we need to be, to -- to make sure that the united states, that the 21st century is an american century like the 20th century. it requires a functional and well-funded, accurately funded government that acts efficiently and that does certain thinking.

>> peggy, it's interesting that for two years democrats have been criticized for not focusing on jobs. they lost the elections. now republicans are focusing on debt and as a republican i say, we have to focus on debt, but americans still want congress and washington to focus on jobs and they don't feel like they're doing it. >> one of the -- what i think americans want is growth. they want to see people take steps that put together a bill that will allow growth to occur. growth brings jobs, et cetera. that's what they want to see. >> senator? >> well, i -- i think eugene touched on something there, and that's a big part of this debate, and the reason it's not likely to be compromised away. i believe most americans are skeptical about the idea that you tax the economy and create government jobs, and this makes america a better place. they're skeptical about a bigger ever-growing government. they voted strongly last fall not to do that, and so the

progressives are having a hard time getting their will imposed, and they should, i think. this is a big debate we're a part of, it's an honest disagreement about the future of the country and being played out to some degree in our effort to balance the budget. >> eugene? >> senator, i certainly agree with that. i think this is an important debate for the country to have. it's exactly what we need to be talking about. we don't need to be talking about it, however, with raising the debt ceiling and in the final analysis, would you agree that it was a mistake to make this larger, complicated debate, which is going to take a long time for us to have and to settle to a deadline of august 2nd and financial armageddon. wasn't that a miscaktake? >> it could have been a part of the budget process. we haven't had a budget in over

two years, and that would be an opportunity for the people to really vote and see, our representatives, how they respond to their requests. so i do think it's not the best place, eugene, you're right. in fact, i've said that previously. i've never felt you could threaten to not raise the debt limit to get people to do something they wouldn't otherwise do. that's a difficult thing, but it did provide an opportunity for a national discussion. unfortunately, our discussion is about secret meetings, secret deals and that kind of thing. >> all right. >> senator jeff sessions, thank you very much. >> thank you, senator sessions. >> eugene robinson, thank you as well. we'll be right back with more "morning joe."

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r.u.s.h. as we all know, we expecting a vote this evening, and the votes obviously were not there. we don't have the votes for a number of reasons. can you tell us why? >> for a number of reasons. >> the answer to your question is, no, i can't tell you exactly why, because there are different reasons for different people. >> and let me say our objectives remain the same. we are determined to find a way to pay the nation's bills, but to do that in a fiscally

responsible way, without more taxes and pass the kind of spending reforms and caps and pass a balanced budget amendment to the states and we'll discuss that in the morning and i remain optimistic that we're find a way forward. good morning. it is friday. 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at new york city. back with us on set now, mike barnicle and steve rattner. we r with just four days to go 20 the august deadline, house republicans called off a vote on speaker boehner's plan. the vote was scheduled for 6:00 last night but repeatedly delayed since boehner didn't have the 216 votes needed to get it passed. as the plan gets reworked, eric cant z cantor is advising the house will be in session this weekend. it involves two steps. first includes a $900 billion increase to the debt ceiling and $917 billion in spending cuts

over ten years. the second step, a $1.6 trillion increase contingent upon congress passing an additional $1.8 trillion in cuts. indiana republican congressman mike pence who we heard from just a few moments ago, compared the ongoing negotiation to, "all the sausage making" saying nancy pelosi hopes the delayed vote will bring republicans back to the table for a ball,ed agreement. 's in a statement she says, "republicans have taken us to the brink of economic chaos. the delay must end now so we can focus on the american people's top priority. creating jobs and growing the economy. so, steve rattner, this is getting somewhat serious, because it's not as if the house republicans voted down this bill, or said they wouldn't vote for the bill, for the same reason that the democrats are against this bill. i mean, even if they come to an

agreement that passes, harry reid said this bill was going to be killed in the senate anyway. so we're a long way to go. >> we are a long way to go but i think people thought if we could at least get this bill oust houout of the house, and the reid bill out of the senate, we could then cut some deals but it then has to go back to the house and another bite of the apple. who knows what would have happened at that point. so, yes, we have a very long way to go. >> how's the stalemate going to get broken, steve? >> i wish i knew. it's like a form of economic terrorism. these tea party guys are like standing strapped with dynamite saying you either do it our way or we're going to blow you up and the whole country with it. you tell me how those kind of standoffs end. >> subject the 87 no votes from the republican caucus and pick them up in the democratic caucus. there were several times, get

democratic votes. i'm sure there be no democratic votes for this boehner plan. so they have to come up with a plan, mike, that if they can't pass it with republicans in the house they're going to have to come up with a plan that 100 or so democrats will support. >> i actually view it as a positive sign. what happened yesterday, because what it does, i think, is it liberates a lot of republicans in the senate who may have been on the fence. they now know, these people are crazy. there's 8 to 15 to perhaps 20 members of the tea party influenced wing of the republican party in the house who are crazy. they are crazy. and it's as if john boehner -- >> crazy defined by boston standards? >> they're taking the country to the verge of economic catastrophe. >> a lot of people in tupelo thinking they're pretty smart? >> well i don't want to find

out. the point is, i don't want to find out. it's as if john boehner, whose speakership is in some peril. he didn't read the fine print of the ransom note. have it, what, 6:45 -- oops. i see we're not going to have the vote. now it's reid and mcconnell. the ones to fix this up over in the senate. >> and giving power to harry reid. >> someone behind the closed doors in the past with newt gingrich, i'm fascinated what actually was happening from 6:00 to 10:00 when they decided no vote. screaming at these guys, they're screaming back. what does that meeting look like between boehner and the tea party? >> usually not screaming. screaming from staff members sometime, but usually they will escort you into the speaker's office, and it's a very intimidating place. it's a wonderful office. you would want it. >> is it opulent? >> it's opulent. you've got an extraordinary view of washington, d.c., and i've

been in probably about 20 of those meetings and the message is always the same. help me or you're going to help the democratic president, and you don't want to damage the speakership, and our cause, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. and i've got to say, a lot of things, that, mike, you're calling these freshmen, i can get you clips from a decade ago or 15 years ago, people were saying the same thing about myself and largent and coburn and salmon and shadegg. excep >> except, joe, i would say at the end of the day, when you were there, when that group was there, there was much more willingness to compromise at the 11th hour than there is now and much more party discipline. >> more than needed to compromise. and i think a lot of times i didn't compromise. i mean, ask tom delay, a point

where they just stopped whipping me. that said, i was never in a position if a bill didn't pass by date x, there's a good chance the stock market was going to collapse. when we decided not to reopen the federal government, know, we went on "larry king" there were g guys with snowmobiles they went around national park screaming at us. that was pretty much the extent of it. but this is pretty significant. i will say that the people i mentioned, steve largent and lindsey graham and matt salmon, these people would understand. mark sanford would understand what would happen in the case of default, and so i think in that respect we would have never allowed this to come to this point. now, we would have fought like hell. you know what the difference is? we would have been pushing for

the $4 trillion deal this group didn't take and say, you get $4 trillion, closing tax loopholes, and -- >> the fact these guys were pushing like hell, got a deal i don't think any of us thought they would get, no tax increases when this started out, specific spending reductions. they got what they want oh what they say they want so take it and move on and save the country. >> yeah. the question is whether at the end of the day the john boehner fit just wasn't tight enough. if you have a speaker you respect, that speaker usually gets one or two free shots. newt gingrich said to us, a lot of us didn't really care for him too much, but at the end ever the government shutdown he said, i've never asked you for a vote. i've whipped you for one but never said, do this for me personally, but we need to reopen the government. it's going to finish the republican revolution if we don't. i need your vote.

and that got him the votes he needed to get over the top. it also was the last time we ever trusted him, but -- >> well, there you go. >> but boehner doesn't have that reservoir with these freshmen. he just doesn't. >> the breakdown in the house could mean big losses on wall street and beyond as asian and european stocks are under pressure and u.s. market mooc r futures are negative after the plan was pulled and the ceos of some of the nation's biggest banks are voicing their concerns. in a letter to white house and the congress, bank of america, jpmorgan chase and others say in part this, a default on our nation's obligations or a downgrade of america's credit rating would be a tremendous blow to business and investor confidence, and, therefore, dramatically worsening our nation's already difficult economic circumstances. steve rattner? >> look, who wrote those -- >> a bunch of the banks. jamie dimon and moynihan and so

forth. ironically, at a time when some say let's not forget about jobs. jobs are something to keep in mind, this government is doing its best to destroy jobs as we are sitting here because business needs confidence. business needs some idea of what is going to happen before they do something. i don't know if you followed the faa. there are 4,000 faa contractors who are out of work because the democrats and republicans can't agree on subsidies for royal air service and they're just sitting there doing nothing instead of building infrastructure and getting paid and spending money, because the republicans and the democrat s can't agree on one little tiny heissue. >> no level of centrtainty at a levels of this --. that's why we have to accomplish one thing. the one thing we need.

>> i'm prepared to take the bullet of defending the president up to a point, anyway. >> let's have an exercise. you defend the president. i'll defend the republican freshmen. ready, go. >> my point is simply that, if we did something that, along the lines of what the president proposed we would have certainty, at least for a year and a half. would we have solved all our problems? no. we'd have a brand bargain. $4 trillion of deficit reduction. it would be balance between spending and taxes and then we live to fight another day. what we're talking about here is a hodgepodge of stuff that will get us through a few moss and provide no certainty, provides no promise. >> go ahead. >> i would say, and actually steve agreed with me a couple weeks ago. the only thing worse than a sort-term fix is no fix at all, where we were talking about $4 trillion grand bargain. >> uh-huh. >> and how good it would be for this country.

passing a clean debt ceiling, which i fear is what we may be headed towards, if this chaos continues, that's not an economic nightmare immediately, but i think we get a downgrade if we pass it clean, without any cuts. we've gotten to this point. it's one of the rare times where conservatives have any leverage to actually enact spending cuts, and so i think their feeling is, this is our opportunity. it's not -- after this -- after this train leaves the station, well, we're back to the status quo and nobody's going to cut, and all they're going to do is want to spin, spin, spin to get re-elected. so we've got to do it now or it's never going to get done. i think the biggest problem with that, mike, is that their moment has passed. what they don't understand is the more chaotic things get in this type of krooitsz. >> crises.

>> the more the president expands expo nen shale, the president's power expands. at some point if it looks like we're about to fall off a cliff they may go ahead and say i have the constitutional powers to do this, by the 14th amendment and be cut off completely at the knees. they are overplaying their hand at this point. >> i think they've already overplayed it, but no matter what happens out of the chaos that ensued over the past few weeks, one thing i would think would have to be for certain, we cannot do this again six months from now. >> oh -- >> we cannot have a short-term lifting of the debt ceiling and get into this during the middle of an election year. we've seen the chaos of the past five or six weeks. you don't want to be doing it duringed election year. >> before we go to break, one other news story. new jersey governor chris christie released from the hospital last night following emergency treatment for asthma.

he experienced short inside of breath and on his way to a bill signing he went to the hospital. everybody in the media started freaking out. apparently an inhaler failed to stop his symptoms and speaking just after his release christie joked about it. >> you got the tip i was okay when mary pat left. you know, either i was fine or dead, one or the other. so, you know, and you would have heard about the latter. >> the governor also answered questions about how his health would affect a potential presidential run f. i decided i want to run for president, i think you know me, charlie, i'd do it. if there's people that don't think i'm up for it they don't have to vote for me. but we're not at that stage of life at the moment so i don't have to worry about it. >> you wouldn't believe the questions he got. the new york reporters just pounding him. i talked to him last night. i think you did, as well. >> i did. he's 48. i'm 48, and, you know, when

things don't feel right, the prudent thing to do, go get them checked out. that's exactly what he did. >> asthma's a serious thing. >> the schedule and -- whatever. i'm glad, though, he's still meeting with his trainer this morning. he's really working on his health. so that's good. that's important. up next, the new issue of "businessweek" the debt crisis is worse than you think. we'll talk to the editor and as well as jeffrey myron. and also later this hour, which stories make the cut in willie's weekend review, first bill karins with the forecast. first things first. tropical storm don heading for the texas-mexico border. the storm is just showing up on radar. the green on the map is a spiraling radar band. notice the heavy rain to the south. this is not going to be the drought buster we hoped for. really only the heavy rain will fall from brownsville to laredo.

corpus christi gets showers maybe you in houston, too, not enough to make a dent in what is a historic drought. around the country, thunderstorms in the lower great lakes. watch out this afternoon. later today from philadelphia, northward to new york city into boston, very hot and dawn to raleigh, hottest day in about a week. saturday, still hot around the country, but just more warm. we're not seeing the extreme heat. could end that 100-degree streak in dallas. sunday, the weather map comes down. from minneapolis down to the gulf. another warm weekend, another summer scorcher in spots. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ melody ] the bar is raised for everybody in an ap class,

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republicans all along have used the deficit reduction as an excuse for the unraveling of progress made for the middle class over the past 50 years. this isn't about reducing the deficit. we can come to agreement on that, but we cannot come to agreement on that departure they want to place on the middle class by reducing what government does. welcome back to "morning joe." 22 past the hour. joining us now, senior lecturer foreharvard university's economic department. and in washington, editor of

"businessweek" the new issue, why the debt crisis is even worse than you think. oh, boy. so, josh, why don't you tell us why it's worse than we think? because we think it's pretty bad. >> yeah. i mean, i feel badly after that last segment which was so uplifting to come in and make it worse. >> exactly. >> the fact is, we are using the wrong words and we're using the wrong number. we're talking about a $14 trillion debt and, in fact, we're talking about the deficit ceiling. what we really need to look at is the fiscal gap. a number produced by the cbo. that's the difference between all of the spending we have projected out and all the revenue projected out. so one of jeff's peers as harvard took that number. cbo extends it to 2085. a long tale to look at. and for a bunch of economic reasons getting rid of the frame of reference problem took it out to infinity. that gives you a sense of what we're peerped to spend based on

what we're peerp prepared to bring in. the number is $11 trillion. we can talk about the adorable package we might have a and what a dent this might have had. this is a real measure of what we are committed to in the future. it become as problem because of a growing population. votes for its own entitlements. a younger generation that doesn't have the same opportunities and you get a sense when you look at the fiscal gap just how bad this is. >> first of all, jeff myron, would you agree with his assessment? >> couldn't agree more. that's exactly the right place to start. that this is not a small problem. this is an enormous problem. we are bankrupt. okay? medicare is completely broken. it has this completely unpayable unfunded liability. we need to be thinking much, much bigger. >> listening to josh and hearing you reconfirm what josh has just told us and to simplify it, it would seem to me we're spending way more money than we're taking in. no one can do that.

the family can't, the federal government can't. why wouldn't a rating agency downgrade and if so what would happen? >> i think the reason the ratings agencies haven't done more so far but may well do it soon is because there's this hope, this expectation that we'll behave in the churchill way, do the right thing when we don't have other choices. a lot 6 countries have gone to the brink and fallen in, not stepped back and done something to fix it. truthfully, whans, in effect they've already downgraded us. already alerted the markets. some of that is -- >> the second time we've heard in. >> the change in the official rating by itself, that by itself is not a huge deal. if the fact we're not going to enact any cuts and reforms to make things better, that's what's really the bad news. >> i don't know what the -- >> sorry. >> what the difference is now. three months before. all the data has been -- we've all used the same numbers for a long time. the political crisis may be what

forced them to focus on it but the numbers have been the numbers for a long time. even back at the '90s at the moments we thought we making progress we weren't. we were spending more, making larger promises. i don't know the answer why they're looking and make action now. it's not helping matters that they're doing it now as opposed to earlier. >> when you look at the history of american spending and the history of american taxing, as you reflect, where did we start to go wrong so that things became dramatic? >> i think we went wrong basically with entitlements and to some extent that was social security, although a relatively small part of the problem. it's medicare and medicaid in huge part but they crept up on us. we didn't see coming those would grow faster than anything else could possibly grow. faster than the economy. even if they start small, growing up faster, soon they're the whole enchilada. that's become more and more obvious. more obvious because a big

deficit so that got attention when really it's been going on for 40 years. >> were there visionaries saying, america, stop. look. trouble is coming? >> i haven't seen many. the original projections were quite affordable. 10, 15 years late five or ten times more than projected. a that point back in the '90s we should have paid more attention. >> so is this problem so big actually we should all sit back and there's nothing to be done? >> actually -- let me ask you, and then jeff jump in. if you look at numbers as you just explained and think about what's going on in headlines for the past five or six weeks, do you think we are now ungovernable? >> i don't think we're ungovernable. look, his industry not destined, but, you know what i would add to peggy's original question is, i think jeff is right. entitlements were the beginning of it. the other problem, where we

really started to create no leverage for ourselves is in pledges. when members of congress start signing pledges that they will not use, one of the only two tools they have to generate revenue, we've got problems. and so you take off -- you have two tools to change the economy. tax, spend. generate revenue and create an infusion of cash. well, when you take one of those off the table, it becomes very difficult to change your numbers. as we look out to the fiscal gap, no question we'll need both of those things working in concert dramatically to make a difference. fundamentally i'm optimistic. what's frustrating to a lot of people, i think, there's a huge moment for leadership here. we've chosen to focus on the tiniest bit of our problem. we have is a much bigger problem coming. we're desperate for leadership. desperate for compromise, and it just doesn't appear to be coming on the big problem. >> so i would say, is it too late? absolutely not. we can change medicare,

medicaid, social security, other stuff, which is much less important quantitatively in ways that preserve a safety net that don't put sick, elderly people on the street that introduce economic rationale into those systems and we'll over 10 or 20 years, not with a year or two, but over a reasonable horizon get the path of that expenditure back in a way that's sustainable. >> can that be done in four days? >> no. i would just say get rid of the debt ceiling. it's a total distraction and doesn't look to good -- we need to discussion highway to change medicaid, medicare so that they are sustainable programs. that's not happening now. they never happen, but it's certainly not happening now. >> when we do discuss it. when we have a tool to discuss. the simpson bowles report. changing social security. by the age of 20 65 raise the

retirement age and democrats in the house immediately howled. oh, it's going to hurt the el r elder elderly. we're talking 50 years down the road. >> i know. one of the points i make is i think the democrats, okay, are focused so much on protecting entitlements and so much on soaking it to the rich there's no room for compromise from them on that point. republicans -- there's not enough money there. it would actually make almost no difference. you could confiscate the top 1%. they make a very, very armageddon in a few years. josh is right. we can't phase back the mortgage option, employer health plans and all those. that's incredibly insane, too. so both of those things are going to have to change. or we will have an actual crisis. >> would you vote for someone who signed the pledge before they even went to washington and raised their right hand? >> i've been thinking a lot about pledges.

i understood when there was one pledge. i understood the reason for it. >> the pledge of allegiance. >> now 27 plempdges, something tells me things have gotten a little bit crazy. edmund burk said he owed his constituents his best thinking. his best original thoughts. his independence. if they didn't like it, they could fire him. but that is what he owed them, once he walked in, and that is my general attitude now towards pledges. tell me, jeff, what's the essential republican -- you spoke of the essential democratic sin. >> the total opposition to any kind of increase in the tax code. we have ones that make no sense. popular but silly from the prospective economic. we should start phasing that out. now that of course leads to more revenues. the republican line, we can't

ever do that unless we simultaneously lower rates. so roughly neutral. lowering rates and broadening the base is a good thing but i think they should say, we're getting rid of bad futures in the tax code, period. whether they're linked to other thing or not, because republicans in particular should be in favor of economic efficiency. things that make things better. that's the way to make the economy healthy. >> what kind of president do you think needs to be there to make a difference? >> i chawly thought it should have been barack obama. he was the person that could have said to the liberals in his party you know what guys, i'm doing all the stuffs care about on the social side, gays in the military, stuff like that. we have to make the pie grow big e and you guys have to suck up, and he hasn't done that. >> you ar gug in this article, the article you have as your cover story, it wouldn't have been enough anyway, to sort of solve the problems, and here we

are not even able to make a small dent. >> i mean, to sound a note of optimism what the $4 trillion bargain actually had, it showed a softening. to jeff's point, somewhere along the way, when you've got pledges, a promise to protect entitlements, we move political philosophy into political ideology. then it becomes impossible to get anything done. what the $4 trillion bargain had, was a bargain. a possibility something might soften and these things we consider hard and fast absolute promises, well we are going to respect reality. >> josh, thank you. jeffrey thank you very much. nut issue of "businessweek," "why the debt crisis is even worse than you think." thank you. up next, banks and ceo fire a warning shot to congress and the white house over the debt ceiling debate. a check on business before the bell, next on "morning joe."

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welcome back. news corp. executive james murdoch is being asked to return to parliament to give more testimony about the phone hacking scandal that has rocked his family's media empire. reports emerged since murdoch's last appearance he may have lied or misled lawmakers about knowledge of an e-mail

containing a hacking transcript. the reporter who sent the e-mail later received a large payout from the company. it comes as news corp.'s news international unit says it is deeply concerned there were allegations that an investigator at its now defunct "news of the world" tabloid may have tapped the phone of a murdered teen's girl's mother. and sara payne says police found evidence a private investigator convicted in 2007 of hacking phones for "news of the world" targeted the worman. they take this matter seriously as the facts are establishmented the company will take all appropriate actions including cooperating fully with any potential criminal inquiries or civil proceedings which may arise. >> a long way from over. >> bad. horrific. >> down to wall streept now. the ceos of goldman sachs, bank

of america and jpmorgan chags among others urging action on this debt deal. in a letter dwroyesterday to congress and the white house the ceos wrote in part a default on our nation's obligations or a downgrade of america's credit rating would be a tremendous blow to business and investor confidence. therefore, dramatically worsening our nation's already difficult economic circumstances. a check on business before the bell now with cnbc's simon hobbs, live at the new york stock exchange. good morning, simon. what's going on down there? >> it's not a good morning, i'm afraid. with the last few minutes in addition to all the other problems we've had, shocking, i rarely use that word, shocking gdp data come through. we thought in the second quarter growth of 1.8%. we had a growth of 1.3%. >> wow. >> unfortunately, more importantly, we thought we had growth of 1.9% in the second quarter. in fact, growth of 0.4%. the consumer spending angle has basically -- the consumer has

basically stopped growing their spending. the rise in the second quarter was just 9.1%. a lot of it has to do with prices, a lot of it stemming from the earthquake in japan but these are shocking, shocking numbe numbers. very historical pieces of data points wee getting out, but it means now we're going to have a fall of 120 points on the dow at the open. we were already down 70 in advance of these figures. because of the very tricky state that we have on the deficit, if we open as the futures are indicating we will have lost 600 points on the dow in five and a bit trading sessions. that is in excess of 4%. that's how bad it is here, guys. >> i want to review the numbers quickly. it's all going by pretty fast here. >> i appreciate it's a lot of figures.

>> no. it's critical here. >> we had 1.9%. in fact, 0.4%. >> 0.4%? >> for the second quarter, assumed on the forecast we would get 1.3%. in fact -- we got -- ah -- i may have got this -- forgive me. for the second quarter we thought we would get 1.8%. in fact we got 1.3%. >> yes. >> ah. >> other numbers coming in over the course of the recession from the end of 2007 to the end of june 2009, the u.s. economy shrunk 5.1%, that's another number we're reading here. >> wow. >> this is because they released a lot of revisions going back an awful long way with this data said. that's why you're getting that. can i mention where we are on the nervousness that surrounds the debt ceiling here? we have rumors that $60 billion has been withdrawn from money market funds over previous sessions because people are so concerned about what will happen

with the potential of default. people that dumped certainly those treasury bill, t-bills maturing in august. yesterday a big conference call with the primary dealers, those that trade treasury bills and they agreed that whoever is holding the bills at the point if it happens, at which the united states defaults, they will eventually get back any 347b through coupon or principle payment. at noon today the treasury is calling the 20 largest banks for a q&a session how everybody is planning and essentially what the treasury is doing. we are extremely nervous here. as i mentioned yesterday, seems almost impossible now that the united states will not go through the international humiliation of losing its aaa status, because the figures that have been spoken about now, any political compromise will not satisfy the ratings agencies which were looking for $4 trillion in cuts. in addition to that the turmoil we've got with its brinkmanship and the prospect we might get further brinkmanship with a two-stage decision from boehner,

ratings agencies are taking a very dim view of because they don't believe the countries that have aaa status should behave in that way. the possibility of the default, but certainly a lot of people are moving to the idea that america will lose that aaa status which is a real moment in time, i think. >> so we've got a potential of default, the potential of a downgrade and now what you've described assess shocking numbers in the united states economy, grew only 0.4% in the first quarter. 1.3% in the second. >> i may have initially made a mistake on that second quarter. >> 1.3%. we got it, simon. thanks for the numbers. >> oh, my gosh. he had a total err of crisis. >> this weekend -- expected yesterday, some analysts believing it was going to be a little better. but we're finding ourselves in the same situation at great britain. absolutely anemic. and it's, again, the -- we're

looking at this week, looking at today. the much bigger sprproblem is a problem we've had for years. that is, are we going to be able to keep priming the pump with lower taxes and high e spending and more wars and bigger debt? and the answer is, no. so how do you rein in all of that massive spending and that reckless fiscal policy at the same time that the economy is going down? pig noon peggy noonan? >> is that a question? >> i don't. i'll tell you, though, members of congress ought to watch that little report from simon this morning. they ought to play it at 10:00 a.m. at the republican conference meeting and then say, okay. after that, don't do something constructive, don't put forward a bill. >> and you're responsible for the consequences. >> we'll be right back. >> okay.

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welcome back to "morning joe." mika, some distressing news out of wall street. >> yeah. i really think you're right. they ought to watch simon's report, because it's exactly what i was thinking when he was speaking. is, how can we sit there and twittle our -- i know they're working hard on capitol hill. we went and talked to people there, and on both sides they're frustrated and they're working hard, but we've got to get a deal. and we don't need a short-term one. >> how do we increase the risk? how do we increase the risks? >> i have been wondering if the members of the tea party and the house of representatives who are voting no on the boehner deal and who stopped it from going forward last night, if they have a sharp and thoughtful sense of

the potential implications of their actions? we are hearing how nervous world markets are. we are hearing all about a possible downgrading of our credit rating in the united states. we're hearing about all sorts of bad implications. it would seem to me that the tea party ought to be thinking to itself, we may be doing the wrong thing. we may be doing the right thing at a tender time like this, let's not play, "let's find out." let's find out if nothing happens on august 2en enend. let's just find out. >> willie? >> look inside the numbers, the number one that jumps out is consumer spending. almost flat. 0.1% from april through june. 0.1%. elevated a little over the winter but now back down. people are not spending money. >> the numbers, mike. >> the whole process, the

political process is now so foreign to me i no longer have any answers. i can remember, you were friends with bill, the democrat. i don't think these people have any relationships with each other in congress. i don't think they have any relationship to what's going on. >> that's true. i remember presidents who could pull in 60% of the people and say, this way, and people followed. >> willie's "week in review," next. know the feeling? try acuvue® oasys brand contact lenses with hydraclear® plus for exceptional comfort. it feels like it disappeared on my eye! [ male announcer ] discover why it's the brand eye doctors trust most for comfort. acuvue® oasys brand.

here they are. your top three stories of the week. >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> at number three, he put on his underwear an ran down the hall. >> this is "jeopardy." >> "jeopardy" host alex trebek startled to find a burglar in his san francisco hotel room. >> i woke up, and saw a figure in our hotel bedroom. >> that's where captain canada sprang into action. after slipping something on i. put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> trebek called upon the same trademark condescension, the love by fans of "jeopardy." >> no. it hurts to miss that one. >> when he confronted the intruder. >> what are you doing up here? meeting friends. i said, no, you weren't. >> trebek tore his achilles in the pursuit of justice but was up working the very next day.

his implicit message, if we stop sleeping in the nude, the criminals have won. >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. at number two, is it cold in here? >> this case of a man rescued from a morgue refrigerator after he was presumed dead by his family and an undertaker. >> he wakes up in a morgue refrigerator. >> a south african man woke up the other day to find himself zipped inside a body bag and chillin' inside a morgue refrigerator. [ screaming ] >> next time the man has an asthma attack and passes out, his family probably will give the paramedics a jingle before calling the coroner. just to be on the safe side. and the number one story of the week -- >> the american people may have voted for divided government but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government. >> viewers who tuned in at 9:00 monday night to watch the bachelorette got a surprise.

two men, one a 49-year-old leader of the free world, the other the 69 yerd speaker of the house of representatives competing for america's debt related affections. >> i've always believed the bigger the government the smaller the people. >> this is no way to run the greatest country on earth. >> three nights later house republicans held a late-night pizza party as boehner tried in vain to whip his caucus into shape. >> it's a zip-a-dee doo-dah day. >> i'vekidney stones easier to pass than this. >> cover the moon with yogurt -- >> return to middle earth. >> i'm having trouble connecting. >> not even a screening of a ben affleck bank robber movie could inspire the house to action this week. >> i need your help. i can't tell what you it is. you can never ask me about it later. >> perhaps not totally appropriate under the circumstances, but at least they didn't watch awe bounce" for heaven's sake. >> i have to go away for a

little while. >> you can say you're sorry. >> i am sorry. >> in another week dominated by mud fighting politicians, it was comforting to know there remains at least one hero among us. >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. ÷@xf!

welcome back. mika what did you learn today? >> i deforewillie. we have no